It is really heart breaking whenever I think of students getting used to the trending millennial terms such as “edi wow”, “share molang”, “lodi”, “petmalu” etc.. differently. At first thought, those are just slang words students used to express their emotions or feelings, sometimes they just want to say those expressions to look ‘cool’ since other students will shout with amazement whenever someone is saying those statements.

However, it is alarming that other students are already using those millennial slang expressions to emotionally hurt their classmates. Students have continuously reporting incidents of bullying in classes and  one of the reasons why they became victims of bullying is that, whenever they want to express themselves in class, whenever they start talking or sharing ideas, other students will automatically shout “share molang” (just want to share?) to cut or stop what they intend to say. So instead sharing their thoughts or socialize with their classmates they will resort to stay in the corner of the room and remain quiet. These incidents made me believe that even without researching, values of students are deteriorating. Seeing students destroying the self-esteem of their classmates is very disappointing but seeing the victim-student loses interest attending to school is painful.

Whatever reasons students may have behind those behaviors I believe that it is part of our job to constantly remind them that it’s fine if they want to look cool or popular in class as long as they are not hurting others and they are promoting peace. Also it is our duty to encourage our students to practice good manners every time even outside the classroom. Let us challenge students to consistently use “excuse me, please, sorry and thank you”, these words maybe simple but magical. Lastly, let us be an example of how important and life changing it can be if we practice good manners in the class and even in life.

By: Ms. Princess Diane O. Cornejo | Teacher I | Bataan National High School | Balanga, Bataan